Cotton picker



Nov. 4, 1930. w, E MlLLER ET AL 1,780,497

COTTON PI'CKE'R Filed April 12, 1928 Patented Nov. 4, 1930 WILLIAM EMILLE BOY J. SHINN,

AllTD' CORNELIUS s. eaovn or HICKORY, NoItTII CAROLINA A A 1 A commonPIcKEa Application fi1ed April 12,

This invention relates tocotton pickers and more particularlyto pickersof the type utito gather the fiber.

lizing a reciprocatory barbed stem or finger Pickers of this generaltype have been known and tried for many years, but have not provenentirely successful because ofcertain' defects'which have developed sinpractical "operationp Among these defects is the dificulty offproperlyremoving. or stripping the fiber from the barbed-stem" or finger, the

fiber having'a tendency'tobecomepacked and jammed into the barbsso thatit isnot easily dislodged- One of; the objects .of'the present nventionis toprovide aplckerfinger so designed and constructed that-thefiberwill not. become packedinthebarbs. f g Another object is to prov de, ncombina- J tion with such a reclprocatory fingerga stripper platehavingiflaring or. 'fu nnel shaped openings therein through whichthe fingersrw'orlgwhereby the sharp edge ofsuch openingsserves to effectively stripor remove the u accumulated fiber from'thefingers.

' view and section respectively,-

I In-order'that the "invention may be readily understood, reference ishad to the accompanying" drawing, 'torming part of this spec ficatiomandin which I A Figure l'is a fragmentary plan view show ing several of ourimproved fingers associatedfwith a pair of stripper plates;

, Figure 2 is a fragmentary face VIGW Of one of these stripper platesshowing the ends of the 1 fingers in-% position-.in the openingstherein; i

Figure3 is'a side elevation on an enlarged scale, bowing one of ourimproved picker fingers and theadjacentportionof the stripper plate, thelatterbeingshown in section;

' Figure 4 is. a transverse SQCtlOIl on theline 4C 4E of Figure 3, one astill further enlarged scale; I 1T :Figures 5.. and 6 are a fragmentaryface on the same scale asFigure 3fof a modified form of stripper plateopening; and h f Figure 7 i'sa fragmentary longitudinal section on'theline 7'7 of Figure 4, looking in the direct-ionof the arrows.

vofthe groove;

192s. seria no. 269,552; I

finger inits entirety. Each linger is preferably provided atone end witha reduced screw "threaded shank 2, by means of which the fingers maybejinounted in a suitable frame l1,as'shown in 'Figure'sl, and securedin positionyaslby means of nuts 12., Refer-ring again toFigure 1-,itwill be seen that we preferably employ: two sets of fingers, each setsecured to a reciprocatory frame 11, i and each, frame being associatedwith means including ap'itman rodlS by means of which it maybereciprocated q A 1 i -Referring' now to Figures 3and Qthe con structionof the fingeritself Will be described. As shovvn in thedrawing, thebodyof the finger' is in the former an elongated cylinderhaving'longitudinally extending channels 3 formed -therein'," these{channels having ribs 9 between them. a By reference to Figure 4,, y

it will b'eseen' that 'eachchannel is bounded by two plane side wanesand 5; the first being groove are set-a series of barbs, longitudi-inally spacedapart and each consisting ofa needle 7 having a point 8 bentupwardly and extending at an angle as clearly shown in Figure 7. I Inpractice; these needles or barbs may be 'ri'gidlyfmountedin the grooves76 by making the grooves slightly smaller than the diameter of theneedles and then forcing the needles in under pressure. Further, for

the sake of additional security, the extreme edge ofthe groove adjacentthe. needle may be slightly deformed or upset, as shown at 10 in Figure4, so as to overliethe body of the needle-and p'revent' it from comingout Referringv again to Figure 4, it will be seen that the ribs 9constitute guards or shields which prevent, the stems andleaves of thecotton plant frombeingicaught by the barbs,

larly'midway between the two walls 4 and 5,-

but, as shown in Figure 4, lie much closer to the short radial wall 4,than to the other. This further increases the large open space adjacentthe wall 5, and thus tends to pre vent the fiber from packing or jammingin such space and facilitating its ready removal from the barbs andchannels.

In use, a pair of substantially vertical stripper plates 14, preferablyhavin flaring forward ends, as shown at 14? in. igu're 1, are disposedbetween the setsof rec1procating fingers, .andeachof such plates is pr0-vided with a series of holes or opening-s15,

arranged to register with the. adjacent finers. a

g By reference to Figure 3, it will be seen that that side of the holesor openings 15 remote'from the fingers is made flaring or funnel shaped,and that the inner edges of such openings are preferably serrated orprovided with sawteeth as shown at 16 It will be understood that in use,the machine carrying the reciprocating fingers and stripper plates ismoved along through the field in such a way that the cotton plants passbetween the plates H. The fingers, after they have been projectedthrough the openings 15 into such space, return and carry with them thecotton fiber which is picked up by the barbs. Owing to the funnel shapeof the holes 15, the adhering fiber is readily drawn outward throughthese. holes, but upon thejreturn stroke of the fingers, the sharpserrated edges of the openings engage thefiber and push or strip it'fromthe barbs, as will be obvious. This strippedfiber then falls into asuitable receptacle or is carried away by belts. It will be noted thatthere is considerable clearance between the body of the finger and theedge of the opening 15, thus permitting large tufts or bunches of fiberto be readily drawn through such opening.

Instead of making the openings with serrated edges, as shown in Figure3, we may employ funnel shaped openings with straight and 6, both typesof opening having been found effective. I

It will be noted that-our improved independently formed barbs are spacedapart longitudinally of the finger and we find that this arrangementgathers and holds the fiber much more effectively and to much betteradvantage than the type of barb heretonel shapechand the edge serrated.

fore employed consisting of a continuous strip having saw teeth at itsedge. Our improved barb, in combination with the special form of channelin which it is mounted, provides a large fiber receiving space which hasproven, in practice, very efiicient.

What we claim is 1. In a cotton picker, the combination with a barbedreciprocatory finger, of a fixed stripper plate having an openingthroughwhich said finger is adapted to freely reciprocate, the inner margin ofsaid opening being flaring or funnel shaped, and spacedfrom said finger.2. In a cotton picker provided with a barbed reciprocatory finger, afixed stripper plate having an opening through which said finger isadapted to freely reciprocate, the.

margin of said opening being fiaringor fun- *3.. A cotton picker, fingercomprising an elongated body having longitud1nal..channels formedtherein, and a' series of =inde-.

pendent spaced barbs, circ-ularin cross-section, set in thebottom ofeach channel 4.;A cotton picker-finger comprising an elongated.bodyhaving longitudinal channels formed therein, a groove cut in the bottom of each channel, and a series of independent separately formedbarbs, set in said groove with tl'l81I' 'pOlI1tS only pro ectingtherefrom, said barbs-lying wholly within said channel.

- v5. A cotton pickerfinger comprising an elongated body havinglongitudinal channels formed therein, a groove. cut in the bottom ofeach channel, and a vseries of independent barbs, set in said grooves,each barb consisting of a separately formed needle lying "in the groove,and having its point bent upwardly and extending at an angle". v. 6. Acotton picker. finger comprising an elongated body havinglongitudinalchannels formed therein, andv aseries of independent,separately formed barbs mounted within each of saidchannels, the pointof'each barb lying substantially "nearer one wall of the channel thanthe other. I

7 7 A cotton picker finger comprising an elongated body havinglongitudinal channels formed :therein and having .plane side Walls, oneof which is substantially shorter than. tl1eother,anda series of barbsmounted within each 0f1S3id channels and having their points lyingnearer the .shorter wall. or smooth edges, as shown at 15 in Figures 58. A cotton picker finger comprising an elongated body havinglongitudinal channels formed therein and having plane side Walls,- one'of which is substantially radial and relatively short, and the other ofwhich ba'rbsmounted within eachof said channels,

and having their points in proximity to the

